Having Your Cake
by wolfmusic218
Summary: It's John's birthday. Someone has a plan.


**Title:** Having Your Cake…

**Author:** wolfmusic218

**Summary:**It's John's birthday. Someone has a plan.

**Author's notes:**

This is what happens when you have a long drive home from work. Thought worms invade and are helped along by Jessa4865.

This one wrote itself and that probably shows, but it was fun to write. Reviews make me squee.

Carter was grinning. She'd called Taylor earlier and told him her plans. He was excited about it, too. Which, if she thought about it, should have disturbed her, but it didn't. She liked that Taylor looked up to him, thought he was a "badass". He was, but he was also a man without a family, people to care about him, and Taylor was a boy without a male role model in his life. The two could do much worse. Reese had Finch, and Reese had her; he just didn't know how deeply he had her. Today wasn't going to be the day he found out, but it was going to be the day he saw her in a different light.

Now…to put her plan into action.

_An Hour Later_

Reese looked at the phone in his hand like it had sprouted legs. Carter's phone number blinked on the screen. She never called him; he was always the one making contact. He couldn't imagine why she'd need to get a hold of him. He pressed the talk button with trepidation.

"Hello Detective, what can I do for you?"

"Hello, John."

He swore could almost hear her shaking her head, but he did hear the smile in her voice, and relaxed slightly. So, she wasn't in trouble; she just wanted to talk to him. He couldn't help but smile at that thought.

"I actually called to see if you were busy later."

"Why, Carter, are you asking me…"

"Don't even go there, John." She laughed into the phone. "Just answer the question."

He smiled again in spite of himself. The banter between them always put him in a good mood.

"Surprisingly, no, I'm not busy later. Apparently, Finch thought I needed a day off today. I could probably squeeze you in between my massage and manicure."

"Now John, that's just mean. I haven't had either in a very long time." An image of John stretched out on a massage table with nothing but a towel on popped into her head and was immediately pushed aside before it could get a good grip on her imagination.

"Well, Carter, I can help with at least one of those."

She huffed. "I have no doubt."

"What was that, Carter?"

There was a pause in the conversation, not necessarily uncomfortable, just thoughtful. How far to go?

"So, Carter…you asked if I was busy…" Not that far, apparently.

"I did. I was wondering if you could come by my apartment later."

"I might be able to arrange it if I knew why."

"I'm not sure, actually. Taylor asked me to ask you." She hated lying to him, but she knew if she told him the real reason, he would find an excuse to avoid the whole thing. She wanted this for him. She wanted to be the one to give it to him. She fingered the second half of her idea in her pocket, nervously.

"Taylor asked you to ask me?" He was at a loss. He couldn't come up with any reason Taylor would want to talk to him. They had been comfortable with each other, in the way complete strangers are comfortable with each other, during the evening Taylor had spent at Finch's before Carter had finished with Elias and his men. They'd talked about sports, mostly. He thought maybe he'd impressed Taylor with his knowledge of basketball and a part of him was surprised at how easy it had been to talk to the 15 year old. He was smart, like his mother.

"I know, it surprised me too, but I told him I would call and ask you."

"It must be important then. I'll come by….what time do you get out tonight?" Why the hell did this feel like a date? And why the hell was his hand shaking?

"I'm actually off today too. Taylor gets home from school around 4 and I want him to finish his homework first. How about six?" She calculated that she could have dinner done and cleaned up by then. She thought about inviting him to dinner, but figured that might be too much for him to handle all at once.

"I'll be there."

_5:45 Carter's Apartment_

Reese stood outside the door to Carter's apartment and debated the wisdom of this move. He had never been here. He didn't think he'd ever get the opportunity for any reason other than her being in trouble. The idea that he'd been invited made him nervous and he was never nervous about anything.

He tapped on the door and waited. When the door opened, he expected to see the Carter he was used to, not the one that answered the door. She was dressed casually; in pants that barely came down past her knees and a sleeveless dress shirt in some color he couldn't identify without a chart. And she was barefoot. Her hair was soft and loose, not pulled up like it normally was when she was working. He swallowed, hard.

"Carter."

She smiled when she saw him. "Hey John, thanks for coming. C'mon in."

She opened the door wider for him and he walked in, still unsure of himself.

She watched him scan the apartment like he was doing surveillance. She shook her head.

"Can I get your coat?"

He glanced at her. "Oh, yes, thank you." He pulled his trench off and handed it to her, watched as she hung it over a hook on the back of the door.

She walked towards the center of the room and realized he hadn't moved from the doorway. She shook her head and smiled. "John. Come in. Please."

"Right." He walked a few steps into the room, feeling completely out of place. He mentally shook himself.

"Can I get you a drink, a beer maybe?"

He looked surprised and nodded. "Please, thanks."

"Have a seat. And John?"

He glanced at her.

"Will you please relax?" She laughed when she turned towards the kitchen.

He smiled and shook out his arms to try to do just that. He looked around the room. It was simply furnished: Comfortable-looking couch, a couple of chairs, a TV turned on to a basketball game, but muted. Framed pictures dotted the tables and walls. He couldn't help himself; he wandered towards them. They were pictures of family. Carter and Taylor, mostly. A few of Carter and her mother. They favored each other, he decided. In fact, Taylor looked surprisingly like his grandmother, mostly in the eyes. One picture caught his attention. It was of Carter and a man who he assumed to be her husband. They were young and she held a baby in her arms. His heart clenched a little.

"That's me and Michael…and Taylor."

He jumped at the sound of her voice and turned.

"I'm going to put a bell on you, Carter." He smirked at her, took the beer she held out to him. "Thank you and, yes, I did recognize you. You haven't changed much."

"Thank you. Seems like a lifetime ago."

He watched her look at the picture, something akin to wistfulness in her eyes. He shifted, not wanting to break the spell, but it did anyway.

She glanced up at him and put her hand on his arm. "I wish you'd relax. It's not that bad to be here, is it?"

He ducked his head in acknowledgement of her words. "No, it's not, I'm sorry. I'm not very good at being social. I guess I'm just wondering why I'm here, drinking a beer, on a school night."

"Guess we should figure that out, shouldn't we?"

He nodded and took a deep drink from his bottle.

"Taylor!"

"Mom!"

She rolled her eyes at him and looked up at John. "Welcome to the teenage years." John had absolutely no idea what she meant by that, but assumed it was the slight attitude she received when she called for her son. It wasn't any different than what he got when talking to Fusco.

"You want to come out here, please?"

"Oh, right, sorry Mom. Give me one sec."

John heard him scrambling around in the kitchen and worried something might be wrong. "Carter?"

She put her hand over his and looked up at him. "Everything's fine, promise. I'll apologize now since I didn't think you'd be this uncomfortable in my home."

"I'm not…" He started to argue, but at that same moment, the lights in the livingroom went out, making John tense and reach for his gun.

Carter held onto his hand over his gun. "Please, don't. I promise it'll be over soon." He didn't understand why she sounded disappointed.

As she said the words, Taylor walked out of the kitchen holding a cake full of lit candles and a huge smile on his face. He looked at his mother and they both started singing Happy Birthday.

To say he was stunned was an understatement. He was…he had no idea what he was. He kept looking between the two of them and he thought his heart might pound out of his chest. It had all been a ruse: Taylor wanting to talk to him, Carter not knowing why. He was blindsided.

In the best possible way.

He had no idea what to say to them. He wasn't even sure he _could_ say anything. He just kept staring.

She watched John watch Taylor come into the room and knew she'd done the right thing by tricking him into coming over; he wasn't upset, he just wasn't used to the attention, he was unsure of himself for the first time in ages. She kind of liked the feeling of being able to surprise him.

Carter leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You're supposed to make a wish and blow out the candles."

Taylor placed the cake on the coffeetable and smiled up at him. "C'mon, John, they're melting."

The only thing he could do was do what he was told. He leaned over, watching Carter's eyes, and blew the candles out in one breath.

Taylor laughed and patted him on the back. "Nice job, old man."

"Taylor!"

John waved off her admonishment. "It's OK. It _has_ been a while."

Carter sat on the couch and grabbed the knife Taylor had brought out with him.

"Taylor, could you get some plates, please?"

"Sure."

She looked up at John and smiled. "Sit down, John."

He sat next to her on the couch, more relaxed than he had been five minutes earlier. He watched as she cut the cake, a chocolate concoction that she's obviously baked herself. It looked amazing. He was having trouble putting all the pieces of this evening together. He couldn't remember the last time he'd celebrated his birthday, let alone _with_ anyone.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he covered her hand with his, stopping her movement. "Carter. Jos."

She turned to look at him and swore his eyes were glistening with unshed tears, but dared not mention them.

"Thank you. I know I should say more, but I'm not sure I can put into words what I'm feeling right now. You have no idea how much this means to me."

She turned her hand so their palms met and she squeezed his hand. "I think you'd be surprised to know that I do understand. A little bird told me your birthday was coming up. I just felt we needed to, wanted to, do something for you. Like it or not, you mean a lot to both of us. You've impressed the hell out of my son, John, and I think he was a little more excited about this than I was. He likes you a lot." She looked down, a little embarrassed at revealing so much.

She was even more surprised when she felt his lips on her hand. "I like him a lot too, Carter. He's a great kid. Smart, strong, stubborn. A lot like his mother. And I do like it."

She looked at him curiously, not following.

"I like that I mean a lot to both of you. Makes it mutual."

They didn't say anything for a moment, letting the meaning of the words sink in.

At the same time, Taylor came back into the room, spying his mother and John holding hands and leaning close. He turned around quietly and went back in the kitchen, smiling the whole way. He liked John and he'd been trying to find someone for his mother forever. He was surprised, but not upset. It made sense.

Carter walked into the kitchen, breaking Taylor out of his thoughts. "Young man, are you planning on bringing those plates out some time today?"

He came over and stood next to his mother, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "I did, actually. But I walked out to find my mother practically making out with the birthday boy, didn't think you wanted to be disturbed."

"Oh my God, Taylor, I was not! He was thanking me, us, for having him over."

Taylor looked at her, watched the blush rise to her cheeks, and couldn't resist. "Really? Looked like a little more than thankyou to me. Should I ask him what his intentions towards my mother are?"

"Taylor Carter, if you do any such thing, you'll be grounded for life." Even through her words, she was smiling.

"Mom's got a crush." He sang in a sing-song voice as he walked out to the living room with the plates.

Carter stood for a second to collect herself, and then walked out to find Taylor and John talking on the couch.

"So, John…how about a piece of cake?" She grinned at him and Taylor wagged his eyebrows at her.

Two hours, coffee, and a decimated cake later, Taylor yawned wide and stood.

"I think I'm going to go read for a while; I have a test tomorrow."

John stood and held out his hand. "Thank you for tonight, Taylor, I really enjoyed it. Good luck on your test."

He looked at the hand John held out, shook his head, and hugged him hard. "I'm glad, I did too. You have some great stories. Hey, maybe we can shoot some hoops some afternoon?"

The stunned look on John's face was priceless and almost made Carter laugh out loud. The man definitely needed to be hugged more.

When he recovered, John crossed his arms over his chest. "If you don't mind getting schooled, T, I'll play you. You don't cry when you lose, do you?"

John laughed and moved out of the way as the fist came at his shoulder.

"We'll see who schools who, old man." Taylor waved his good night and headed to his room. Before he got to the hallway, he turned. "Hey John, happy birthday. And Mom? Behave." At that, he headed to his bedroom, chuckling.

John stood, just staring where Taylor had disappeared.

Carter stood and put her hand on his arm. "Hey, I have something for you."

"Jos…"

"No, no…it's not a big deal…just something I thought you should have."

He nodded and watched her walk to her coat, pull out a small box. She came back and stood in front of him, not looking at him. She held out the box.

Her change in demeanor told him this was a bigger deal than she wanted to admit. He watched her face as he opened the box to find a small silver key.

His brows knit together out of curiosity. When she finally looked at him, he knew. "Are you sure about this?"

She nodded quickly. "Absolutely. Taylor and I talked about it. We can't have our guardian angel picking the lock or kicking down the door when we need him. But we also don't want him to think we only want to see him when one of us is in trouble. We'd like to see him a little more often than that."

She heard him take a deep breath and expected to hear him argue. When he didn't, she looked up into his eyes. This time, the tears were definitely there. She pulled him into a tight hug. At first, he tensed, but after a moment, he wrapped his arms around her small frame and pulled her in close to him, burying his face in her neck.

They stayed that way for a few moments before John pulled away. "Thank you, Jos. I'd like that."

She smiled up at him and thumbed the tear on his cheek. "Good. I'm glad we have that settled." She stood on her toes and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, grasping his arms with her hands for leverage. He couldn't resist the urge and turned his head, meeting her lips with his. He heard her quick intake of breath and thought he'd misread things. When he felt her hands tighten on his arms, pulling him closer, he deepened the kiss, teasing her lips with his tongue. It didn't last long, but the kiss hit both of them hard. He leaned his forehead on hers, felt her breath coming fast against his face.

"This might be a good time to say goodnight, Jos."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Yeah."

John scored himself a point when he realized he'd flustered her. He took her hand and led her to the door. He turned to her, his hand on the doorknob. "Thank you for tonight."

"You're welcome." She squeezed his hand and watched him reluctantly turn and walk through the door.

When the door clicked closed, Jos rested her head on it and smiled.

She turned to see Taylor standing in the hall, grinning. He pumped his fist, gave a little yell of "Yes!" and headed back to his room.

She knew _exactly_ how he felt.


End file.
